


a world alone

by dizzyondreams



Series: from the earth [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: (non binary eren), Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Genderqueer Character, M/M, Other, witch eren/human jean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-14 20:07:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3423854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzyondreams/pseuds/dizzyondreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>It was drizzling when they first met. A light mist of rain that left dewdrops on Jean’s clothes and in his hair.</i><br/> <br/><i>The person opposite him glowed through the rain.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	a world alone

**Author's Note:**

> i listened to hozier's self titled album almost exclusively while writing this.. if you like having something to listen to while reading then there whole album is [here!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7UIHA2-q00) enjoy!

It was drizzling when they first met. A light mist of rain that left dewdrops on Jean’s clothes and in his hair.

The sound of rain on the trees was light and musical, the water on Jean’s skin a cool reprieve. The sunlight filtering through the canopy set the water drops shimmering, the dark press of trees comforting rather than claustrophobic. The sharp smell of sap, of rain on the ground, the green, autumnal smell of leaf litter.

The person opposite him glowed through the rain. 

It was in the forest that they found each other, the trees muting all trace of the outside world.

They were young and lonely, which was mostly all they had in common.

\-------

Jean had failed a paper, gotten lost and twisted his ankle, all within the space of an hour. His day wasn’t exactly looking up, and he cursed to himself when he felt the first drop of rain land on his face.

He’d thought it was a good idea to go for a good, calming walk in the forest after getting his paper back. He’d thought it might clear his head; to get out of the grey of the city, get out of his head. But here he was, hobbling around in circles, trying to find the path again, all with a rapidly swelling ankle.

After half an hour of it, he sat himself down on a mossy log and put his head in his hands. The moss was damp, and water was seeping into his jeans, but he ignored it. A wet ass wasn’t the worst thing that had happened to him all day, after all.

The rain lightened a little, the soft pattering of droplets from the trees the loudest thing around him. Jean supposed it would be peaceful, if it wasn’t for the throbbing of his ankle and the rising panic in his chest that he was likely going to die in this forest.

“Do you need some help?”

Jean’s head snapped up at the voice, thinking for sure that he was finally going crazy, but his eyes widened when he saw the figure crouching in front of him. He hadn’t even heard them approach, despite how much noise Jean had made crashing around trying to find the way out.

The person looked to be about the same age as him, dark skinned and baby-faced with a light smattering of freckles across the bridge of their nose. Long, wild hair twisted up into a rather haphazard knot on the top of their head. They were smiling down at him, and Jean noted absently how pointy their eyeteeth were. They looked almost feral, something odd and off kilter in their green eyes that made the hair on the back of Jean’s neck stand up.

“I-uh. Yeah.” He stumbled over his words, caught up in that gaze. “I twisted my ankle, I think.” He said stupidly, keeping a wary eye on the person as they shifted a little closer to Jean, tilting their head to look at his ankle. They looked so strange and otherworldly, from the loose roughhewn tunic and shorts to their dirty bare feet. A clatter of stone on stone drew Jean’s attention to a tangle of necklaces around their neck that swung forward as they leaned over Jean’s ankle. Stones of varying colours and shades strung on black thread, all with tiny little symbols carved into them. _Weird_ , Jean thought, then his attention was drawn away from the stranger’s odd collection of jewellery as they probed at his ankle cautiously. Jean yelped and drew his foot back, and they sat back on their heels and nodded sagely.

“Definitely twisted.” They said, standing with a huff and offering a hand out to Jean. He stared at it in confusion, the short stubby nails, calluses and what looked like earth caked on them. “I’ll help you back to mine and I can put a poultice on it.” They clarified, giving him another grin that set Jean’s fight or flight response screaming again.

“Sure.” Was all he said, before taking the hand because really, how much worse could this day get? Getting murdered by a stranger in the woods would probably be a plus. The person hauled him up with a tinkle of metal as the bangles on their wrists slid down their skinny arms. 

“What’s your name?” They asked as they pulled Jean’s arm over their shoulders so they could support some of his weight. They were smaller than Jean, so he had to hunch a little awkwardly, but it was a relief to not have as much weight on his ankle as before.

“Jean.” He said as the stranger guided them surefootedly through the undergrowth, humming a little under their breath as they walked. He turned his head to the side to look at them, caught the little smile curling their lips up, and looked forward again as his cheeks flared hotly. They had a snub nose and a little braid tucked up in their mess of hair, which Jean found oddly cute. 

“I’m Eren.” They said, flashing him another wolfish little grin. Eren smelt of soil and sunlight and of grass after rain, and Jean found himself leaning into the heat of their body more and more as they walked. He put it down to his hurt ankle, and ignored how his heart was thudding beneath his ribcage.

Before long they came to a small clearing, in the centre of which was a small, run-down stone building. It was covered in ivy, the glass of its windows intact but dirty, the wooden roof looking a little worse for wear. The faint, burbling sound of water could be heard; probably a small stream that ran by somewhere close. 

“Do you live here?” Jean asked, dumbfounded, as Eren helped him towards the little cottage. Eren made a noise of assent, and Jean turned his head to gape at them in confusion. “On your own?” 

Eren nodded again, then pulled a face. “Well, Wolf sometimes sleeps on my bed and I’ve caught the rabbits in my flowerbeds a couple of times.” They shrugged. “But I’m mostly alone.”

Jean just stared at them, even after they’d shouldered the creaky front door open and deposited Jean on a sturdy wooden bench next to a table absolutely laden with clutter. Jars and bowls of herbs and dried flowers, plant pots and rocks, feathers, an empty mug and an honest to god _cauldron_. A quick glance around the rest of the room held the same level of chaos, the walls were stacked high with shelved jars that shone in the late afternoon sunlight. A bookcase was pushed against the far wall, stuffed to bursting with what Jean could only describe as _tomes_. An old-fashioned stove sat near him on squat little feet, a dented old kettle on it and a few iron pans hanging from the ceiling. A sink, full of chipped plates and mugs, a couple of plant pots and cutlery, next to a counter absolutely swamped with an a array of herbs, most of which Jean didn’t even recognise. The room smelt of earth and incense, and Jean found himself relaxing a little at the comforting aroma. A few hanging baskets of plants hung from the ceiling, tendrils of leaves and vines brushing against the top of Eren’s head as they crossed over to a large chest of drawers which could barely close due to the amount of things in it.

Jean put his elbow on the table and instantly pulled it away as the sleeve of his jacket soaked through. He brushed off some soil from his arm and hoped to god it was just water. The cauldron next to him was bubbling slightly, a green, earthy smell rising from it. Jean was wondering just what exactly he’d stumbled into when Eren came back to his side, fiddling with a small pestle and mortar and mumbling to themself.

“What’s th-“ Jean began, but was cut off when Eren shook their head sharply, mouth still moving as they ground whatever was in the mortar to a paste. Jean shut up, eyes scanning Eren’s skinny little figure as they worked away. They were all elbows and knees, but there was a strange sort of grace to them as they swept around the room, plucking leaves off plants, dropping them into the mortar. They navigated the chaos of what was apparently their home with an ease that Jean found impossible, considering the disarray of their space. There was something animal about them that Jean couldn’t put his finger on, something about the twist of their mouth and the quickness of their movements, the way their eyes glowed through the heavy light of the little room in the middle of nowhere.

They circled back around to Jean’s side after a few minutes, plunked the mortar down on the table and took a seat opposite him, swinging one dirty-kneed leg over the bench and gesturing to his ankle. “Put it up.” They said, business-like. Jean felt a very distinct shift in them to the grinning little thing they’d been earlier, their eyes were sharper now, a sort of unnatural stillness around them that reminded Jean of lions he’d seen on TV as they hunted their prey. He rested his leg gingerly on the stretch of bench between them, tugged at the laces of his shoe until he could pull it off and let it fall to the soil-covered floor.

Eren dipped their fingers in the paste they’d made and bent forward over Jean’s ankle as they smeared it across the bruising skin there. Jean hissed between his teeth as they fingers skated over a particularly tender spot, and fixed his gaze on their bird’s nest of hair instead of watching them spread god-knows-what on his ankle.

“What’s in that?” He ventured, eyes fixed on a little metal bead threaded into a braid amongst the messy bun Eren wore.

“It’s a simple comfrey poultice, with a little extra of my own invention.” There was that impish grin again, and Jean found his face growing a little hot as Eren glanced back down. “It’s good for inflammation.” They explained, and Jean nodded speechlessly. God, what a turn this day had taken.

“So, do you-“ Jean searched for the right word, and when it didn’t come he huffed. “What are you doing here?”

Eren’s fingers on his skin stilled, and they glanced up at him curiously. “I live here.” They said. “I told you.” They hopped off the bench, task obviously complete, and began rifling through the bulging drawers of their cabinet. 

“No, I mean…” True to form, Jean was struggling with finding the right words. He’d never been particularly adept at communication, and he was so confused that he was finding it hard to gather his thoughts. “Why are you living in a forest with a load of plants and a- a,” He gestured towards the cauldron. “ _That!_ What’re you,” He chuckled a little desperately as Eren drifted back to him, a roll of gauze in their hands. “A witch?”

Eren cocked their head to the side, expression open and a little confused. “Yeah,” They said, “What else would I be?”

\--------

“A green witch.” Jean repeated for the hundredth time that day, ankle bandaged and propped up on a slightly moth eaten pillow Eren had fetched from some unseen attic room. 

Eren just hummed, stirring at something in a pot on the stove. The steam was opalescent, smelt vaguely of citrus and Jean assumed it was nothing that would ease the rumbling of his empty stomach.

After Eren had bandaged Jean’s ankle, they’d left him with express orders not to move an inch as they went out to forage with the last of the day’s light. They’d explained it was almost a full moon, and that they needed a few things in preparation for it. Jean had nodded along dumbly, torn between his usual sceptic’s reaction of ‘some rich kid messing around with Paganism’ and the inkling of a realisation that Eren might just _not_ be bullshitting him. 

“And you talk to animals?” Jean asked dully, watching as Eren scooped a spoonful of herbs from a little jar next to him and poured them in the pot. The steam seemed to take the shape of a wolf for a second, but then Jean blinked and it was back to normal. He blamed it on his eyes acting up, and rubbed at them a few times for good measure.

“I can’t _talk_ to animals.” Eren murmured, like it was the stupidest question in the world. “But I can communicate with them to a certain degree, yeah.”

Jean had seen the huge grey wolf loping along on Eren’s heels as they’d disappeared into the trees earlier. That couldn’t have been a trick of the light, it had pushed its big muzzle up into Eren’s palm in greeting, shook its head happily as Eren had given it a scratch behind its ears.

Jean was officially having the weirdest day of his life.

The world outside the windows was an inky black by the time Eren plonked a bowl down in front of him, along with a rather bent spoon. Jean poked at it suspiciously as Eren ladled out some stew for themself before taking a seat on the other side of the table to Jean.

“It’s just potato and leek.” Eren supplied helpfully, already digging into their food. “There’s bread by the mint.” They added. “Eat up, you need to heal.”

“I can probably make it back on my own.” Jean grumbled, pushing aside jars until he found a heel of dark bread and a knife. There was barely enough room to eat on the table for all the clutter, but the warm glow of the gas lamp Eren had lit as night had begun to fall made the inside of the cottage seem cosy and warm. Light glinted off the sides of the jars lining the walls, deepened Eren’s olive skin to a rich glow.

“Not at night you couldn’t.” Eren said, tearing a piece of bread off for themself. “Wolf would get you.” They said seriously, then grinned at Jean’s wide eyes. “I’m joking, she’s tame as a rabbit.”

“How do you tame a fucking _wolf_.” Jean mumbled, digging into his stew, which was surprisingly good. His new friend laughed, those sharp little teeth flashing in the lamplight. 

“I raised her from a puppy.” Eren said through a mouthful of bread, reaching for a small bowl of salt. “She thinks I’m her mother now.”

Jean didn’t reply, mind whirring too fast to keep up with his intense disbelief about the whole situation. If he hadn’t seen the wolf earlier, he’d be calling bullshit on everything Eren was telling him.

“I hope you don’t mind sharing a bed.” Eren added, giving Jean a concerned little look. Jean almost choked on his mouthful of soup.

“What?” He gasped, wiping at his chin. “Why would I be sharing a bed?”

Eren looked genuinely confused, propping their chin on their hands as they stared at him with those strange green eyes. “Well, you can’t sleep on this bench.” They said matter-of-factly. “It’d be a pain getting you up the ladder but-”

“It’s fine.” Jean said firmly, casting a glance towards the rickety ladder that led up into the attic of the cottage that he assumed now was Eren’s bedroom. “I don’t sleep much anyway.” Eren seemed well intentioned, even if their sense of humour was a little off at times, but to share a bed with them? Jean wasn’t into sharing beds with complete strangers who claimed to be _witches_ and whose only friend was a huge _wolf_.

“Oh,” Eren perked up a little, flicking their gaze around the room calculatingly. “I have a draught for sleeping problems I could make up for you.” Jean tried to stop them, but they were already flitting around the room, pulling down jars and pulling a huge pan onto the stove. 

“No, Eren, it’s f-” Jean began weakly, but Eren cut him off with a look that reminded Jean of his mother.

“You need your sleep if your ankle is going to heal.” Eren told him, and turned back to the pan. Jean muttered a curse under his breath and slumped down in his seat, praying to any god that was there to save him from this day.

\------

One foul-tasting sleeping draught later and Jean was making his slow descent up the ladder to Eren’s bedroom. The more rational part of his mind told him that this was exactly how a lot of horror movies played out, but the part of him that was tired and aching and generally done with his own self preservation didn’t care. Besides, Eren seemed nice enough and well intentioned, if a little weird, and he didn’t feel in any danger.

The slightly wobbly ladder led into an open attic area, surprisingly airy despite the general rundown look of the entire cottage. A huge mattress lay in the middle of the floor, piled high with pillows and blankets of various sizes and patterns. It looked incredibly inviting, and Jean scrambled up the last few rungs of the ladder with Eren on his heels.

A huge skylight was set in the ceiling, and the light from the half moon shone down on the bed, coating the brightly covered sheets silver. Upstairs hadn’t escaped the explosion of greenery any more than downstairs had. Several hanging baskets trailed vines into the Jean’s face as he limped over to the bed and slumped down, permitting himself a good look around as the moonlight hit him. 

A dark chest of drawers stood against the far wall, and a full-length mirror, a little spotted with age and with a fine hairline crack running through the middle, stood to its side. The dresser supported a muddle of candles and potted plants, the wax dripping down the outside of the dresser in long white lines. 

“D’you need something to sleep in?” Eren asked, moving over to the dresser and pulling a drawer open. Jean watched the lean line of their back, the way their hair was beginning to unravel from their haphazard topknot.

“I’ll sleep like this.” Jean said, wondering absently how Eren had gotten all this furniture up that tiny ladder as he shed his jacket and folded it up next to the bed. It was chilly in the room, that fresh cold that came with spring nights. Jean burrowed under the covers, pulling a thick albeit itchy blanket over his knees as he watched Eren move around their room.

“Are you sure?” Eren asked, looking over their shoulder at Jean and shrugging when he nodded. “Suit yourself.” 

The sleeping draught seemed to be taking effect as Jean watched Eren pull their shirt over their head and drape it over an odd chair by the dresser. His eyelids felt heavy, his brain slowing and settling into a comfortable kind of emptiness that he hadn’t felt in months. Eren’s chest was as flat as his, a dark line of hair on their stomach that disappeared into their underwear. Jean found it hard to look away when Eren caught his eye, giving him a wicked little grin, their wolfish eyeteeth glistening. They looked so otherworldly, bathed in the cold white light of the moon, washing them out to a shadow against the darker shapes of their furniture. Their eyes seemed to glow, greener than anything Jean had ever seen before, pinning him in place, making him unable to look away. They were an entirely different creature than the bright-eyed person who’d bandaged Jean’s ankle and bitched him out for whining. Their hair loose on their shoulders, a dark cascade against the white nightshirt they pulled on over all that bare skin. 

Jean’s head was weaving with tiredness, and Eren chuckled, pushed him back into the rather lumpy mattress and smoothed his hair back from his forehead. “Try and get some sleep.” They murmured, curling up a respectable distance from Jean and pillowing their head on their arm, watching him with those laser-like eyes, intense, like a wild animal. There was that stillness to their body again, and when Jean blinked he could almost swear their pupils were slit like a cat’s.

“This has been a weird day.” He mumbled, tongue thick with exhaustion, and Eren laughed again. God, they were always _grinning_ , Jean thought, rolling his head to the side to get away from that gaze. His tired eyes scanned the room, wondered in some dreamy part of his mind if Eren got lonely with only the wolves and their flowers for company.

“I guess it has.” Eren agreed, then rolled over onto their other side. “Go to sleep.” They said softly, and Jean pressed his face into the pillow, smelt soil and musky incense, and he was asleep.

He dreamed of a grinning wolf with thick brown fur, curled up in an empty clearing waiting for its children to come home.

**Author's Note:**

> hey so this is a new au that i'm really excited about! please let me know what you think - i'll be posting further one shots when i have time to write (i have a few ideas already) that kinda explore eren's world and eren and jean's relationship as it develops! anyways comments and feedback are appreciated :^)


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